The present invention generally relates to pipe cutters and, more particularly, to a portable, automated pipe cutter apparatus providing a stable work area and useful accessories for cutting, reaming, cleaning/polishing, and otherwise preparing piping or tubing and their fittings for assembly at a job site.
Conventional pipe cutters are well known in the art and generally include a cutting wheel and rollers arranged to engage or clamp a pipe, tubing, or similar work piece. The position of the rollers relative to the cutting wheel is adjustable to accommodate pipes having various diameters. Once the pipe is clamped between the cutting wheel and the rollers, the pipe may be cut by revolving the cutting wheel around the pipe. Thus, the pipe is held in one hand while the cutter is held in the other and manipulated to rotate about the pipe. Additionally, during a cutting operation, the conventional pipe cutter is manipulated to incrementally decrease the distance between the cutting wheel and the rollers and thereby incrementally increase the depth to which the cutting wheel penetrates the pipe clamped therebetween. Thus, cutting piping, tubing, or similar work pieces with conventional pipe cutters is known to be a tedious, hands-on task.
More recently, motorized pipe cutters have been proposed and are provided in the prior art. Typically, these automated pipe cutters either involve turning the pipe by rollers being turned by a motor or employ cutting instruments that actually saw through the pipe, causing substantial safety concerns and producing debris in the form of saw blade shavings from the pipe. Additionally, these automated pipe cutters have attempted to maintain the hand-held nature of the more traditional pipe cutters, and still require the pipe to be held in one hand and the pipe cutter to be held in the other. These automated pipe cutters are seen as requiring the tedious manipulation of both pipe and pipe cutter, as with the more traditional pipe cutters widely known in the art.
Thus, there exist a need in the art for a pipe cutter apparatus that does not require the constant manipulation of both the pipe to be cut and the pipe cutter itself. Additionally, there exist a need in the art for a pipe cutter apparatus that includes useful accessories for conditioning external pipe surfaces or internal pipe fitting surfaces. The prior art has attempted to provide automated and manually manipulated deburring tools and brushes for such conditioning, but the present invention does so through an efficient and user-friendly design heretofore unknown in the art.
In general, the present invention provides a pipe cutter apparatus that includes a housing having a base and lid. The lid is moveable between a storage position and an operative position. A motor is retained within the housing and has a shaft operatively connected thereto and rotated thereby. A cutting wheel extends radially from the shaft and is rotated with the shaft. A pipe conveyor is also retained within the housing, adjacent the cutting wheel. The pipe conveyor may be operated to urge a pipe placed therein into engagement with the cutting wheel. Notably, when the lid is in the operative position, a work area is provided for cutting a pipe or similar work piece. When the lid is in the storage position, a carrying case is provided such that the pipe cutter apparatus is readily portable.
Another embodiment of the present invention generally provides a pipe cutter apparatus including a motor, a shaft operatively connected to and rotated by the motor, and a cutting wheel extending radially from the shaft and rotated therewith. A pipe conveyor is provided adjacent the cutting wheel and is operable to urge a pipe placed therein into engagement with the cutting wheel. When a pipe is placed in the pipe conveyor and caused to engage the cutting wheel, the operation of the motor to rotate the shaft and the cutting wheel causes the pipe to be rotated by the cutting wheel such that the pipe and the pipe cutter apparatus do not have to be simultaneously manipulated. The cutting wheel is neither rotated about the pipe nor is the pipe rotated against the cutting wheel by some external manual or automated force. Rather, the rotation of the cutting wheel itself, and its engagement with the pipe, causes the pipe to rotate so that the cutting wheel cuts about the entire circumference of the pipe.
A further embodiment of the present invention provides a pipe cutter apparatus including a motor, a shaft operatively connected to and rotated by the motor, a cutting wheel extending radially from the shaft and rotated therewith, a cleaning brush attached to the shaft and rotated therewith, and a pipe conveyor adjacent the cutting wheel and operable to urge a pipe placed therein into engagement with the cutting wheel. In this embodiment, a pipe may be cut by the cutting wheel and thereafter, conditioned with a cleaning brush to prepare the pipe for a given application. Pipe fittings may also be treated with the cleaning brush.